14th Degree BlackBelt

[bignick]

me and my buddy invented our art one day when we were sitting around joking...it's called Ludo of which we are 57th degree black belts...training mainly consists of living in our basement and running to the store, getting us coffee and the like...for your black belt you need to take a goldfish and drive it into a oak plank from 10 feet away...

we are still waiting for students, so if you are interested...send me a message...

 

[MichiganTKD]

There is a gentleman named Klaus Shumacher who claims to be 11th Dan in Hapkido or some related style. Even claims that Dan ranking tradition goes back hundreds of years, and that "in the old days" 13th Dan was possible. I pity his students.

 

[pesilat]

Man, what a maroon, as Bugs Bunny would say. This guy has one sixth degree, and two fourth degrees. Add 'em up and you get a 14th degree black belt? I like that math. I just started at another school on the side of my Shaolin school and they teach five different styles. I guess I'm a fifth degree yellow belt.


Btw...how high does ninjitsu go up to, becuase I've also heard of a guy claiming to be twenty-somethingth black belt in ninjitsu, but I thought the guy telling me about him was just mistaken, so I just ignored him. I believe I've also heard of Bujutsu or something like that having a 12th dan, but I'm not sure.

Well, as I understand it, there is more than one system of Ninjutsu - and a whole flippin' heck of a lot of politics among them wrt which is legitimate and whatever. I've only had a very limited exposure to Bujinkan and a couple offshoots of Bujinkan. I don't know about other systems but, as I understand it, Bujinkan only goes up to 15th Dan.

Mike

 

[Shogun]

Judo, I believe, goes up to Junidan (12thdan). Bujinkan, as mentioned, goes up to Jugodan (15thdan). However, Bujinkan guys typically call 10th+ instructors Shihan, which in this case, simply means "damn good".

 

[bignick]

yes...but the point that was made is that this guy is a taekwondo instructor...which only goes to 10th dan...and he's calling himself a 14th dan

 

[MichiganTKD]

Tae Kwon Do does NOT go to 10th Dan. Tae Kwon Do goes to 9th Dan. 10th Dan MIGHT be used honorarily to designate someone who has shown outstanding contribution to the Art, much like honorary Ph.D. But as far as actual Dan rank that you test for and receive, it only goes to 9th Dan. I can't think of any Grandmaster who received 10th Dan, and that includes Gen. Choi, Hee Il Cho, Hae Man Park, Jhoon Rhee, or anyone else.

 

[bignick]

that's what i meant...in wtf taekwondo 10th dan can only be conferred...not actually earned...

 

[Shogun]

yes...but the point that was made is that this guy is a taekwondo instructor...which only goes to 10th dan...and he's calling himself a 14th dan

I know. just stating. hey, maybe it was a "new" type of TKD that hasnt been unleashed yet. ha.

 

[phlaw]

The 10th Dan's in TKD are the ones that founded their own Kwan's.

 

[kroh]

It has been my experience that those with these kinds of rankings are foolish and that ANYONE who refers to themselves as master usually aren't. I mean could you imagine walking into a doctors office ( say the head of Neurosurgery and the best brain guy in your state ) and because he is the head of a bunch of organizations having to call him master?

Silly Americans. The asian peoples who formulated these martial arts often have great fun at our expense because of such ignorance. One of my first instructors has no Dan gade (Menkyo instead) does that mean she is any less of a martial artist than some one who calls himself master.

Adam Hsu, a well known and respected Kung fu stylist said it best in his book... " Where did all these Masters and Great Grand Masters come from. The Chinese didn't bring them here. I have been teaching martial arts for close to twenty years and my students refer to me as Sifu. How is it a westerner, claiming have been teaching for five years is a Great Grand Master in our system of Kung fu and I am not? All of my students call me teacher (sifu)..."

I blame all of this on George Lucas. If he hadn't started calling Yoda master... None of this would be going on.

Walt

 

[pakua]

Add them up is a bit like having an MS and and MBA and saying that together they're a PhD.

 

[terryl965]

All I know in forty one years in the MA I've never seen as much BS Ma'ers as in the past year. If you can't hack the real world of Ma'ers go start your own style and proclaim yourself GrandMaster of B.S. This is why no respect for the Art we practice, Between politics and self proclaimed master's we have no chance against Western civilazation B. S....... God Bless America

 

[kroh]

Add them up is a bit like having an MS and and MBA and saying that together they're a PhD.

How screwed would a medical professional be if they did something like that. These people have no shame. But then again... It is a marketing tool designed to catch the layman and drag them into an office.

How bent would these people be if some one ran an article in say, Time or Newsweek, exposing fraud in the martial arts and Ten things to look for that screams McDojo ( I beleive Black Belt ran an article... But then again... most of those subscribers are in the know anyway).

What gets my water boiling is not that these self deluded individuals are claiming these outrageous titles, but that they make no striving to be good at what they do. There are many people who have started there own systems with nothing more than a basic understanding of the initial art that they started in. BUT... There are those who have done such a thing and left the parent organization for whatever reason and then went on to inovate something.

Let's look at you know who... He started off in Wing Chun but supposedly didn't as far in the system as he could have before moving on/out. Not satisfied with what he had ( a base knowledge ) he kept inovating untill he came upon a theory that worked for him. His students, not being satisfied with what was left to them... Continued to inovate. Thus we have Jeet Kun Do.

Then of course, this is the exception and not the rule. I am sure every legitamate martial artist / fighter on these boards can't look ten feet without spotting Mcdojo-jutsu some where close to their location. I live in Rhode Island and the amount of Kung Fu per capita is HUGE! I see Mcdojo-ism all over.

On the other side of the coin...we should be tolerant and patient of these people.

#1. They demonstrate to people who realize what is going on, what not to do as a martial artist.
#2. They might come to realize the error of what they are doing and go legit.

I am acquainted with several high level martial artists who when they introduce themselves use a handshake and their first name . Their first name is never master this with an X dan in that.

Walt :idunno:

 

[kroh]

God Bless America

All we can really do is wait patiently, continue to educate people about what martial arts are and what they are not, and hope these individuals grow up and come to their senses.

Regards
Walt

 

[pakua]

I love McDojo! How about Dans-R-Us?

 

[kroh]

Dans-R-Us.... Catchy....you might have something there...you should copyright that.

Regards
Walt

 

[ppko]

I love McDojo! How about Dans-R-Us?

Hey that is where I recieved my 50th dan in Crapmando (oh no the secret is out now what do I do)

 

[pakua]

Hey that is where I recieved my 50th dan in Crapmando (oh no the secret is out now what do I do)

Did you get fries with it?

But seriously seems what you need to do is start a new style (although I love the name Crapmando) then you can be any level you like.

 

[ppko]

Did you get fries with it?

But seriously seems what you need to do is start a new style (although I love the name Crapmando) then you can be any level you like.

I think that in my style there will be 100 levels of blackbelt so I am only half there to mastering Crapmando

 

[Drac]

Hey, I'm a 50th Dan too..My discipline is CuffandStuff..